The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Cornus or Chinese dogwood that is grown for use as a landscape tree. It is known botanically as Cornus kousa ssp. chinensis and will be referred to hereinafter by the cultivar name ‘TRI-SPLENDOR’.
‘TRI-SPLENDOR’ arose and was selected by the inventor at the inventor's nursery in Molalla, Oreg., as a chance seedling in a crop of Cornus kousa ssp. chinensis (species, unpatented) in 2000.
The new Cornus variety ‘TRI-SPLENDOR’ is an upright tree characterized by variegated foliage which vary in the spring from lime green to yellow to cream and variegated green and cream colored flowers.
The closest known comparison plant known to the breeder is the parent plant which has solid green leaves and cream colored flowers. The foliage and flowers of ‘TRI-SPLENDOR’ are variegated and change through the year. In the spring there are three distinct colors on the leaves: the margins are yellow by the base, creamy white towards the apex and the centers are green. By the end of the summer the leaves have turned all green, then in the fall become a pink-reddish hue before dropping. The late spring blooming flowers have bracts which are variegated cream and green. Other cultivars that are close in being variegated Cornus kousa ssp. chinensis are Samaritan ‘Samzam’ and ‘Snow Flake’. ‘TRI-SPLENDOR’ has broader leaves and more pronounced variegation than ‘Samzam’ and variegated bracts instead of the solid white flowers of ‘Snow Flake’.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar was first accomplished by the inventor in 2002 in a cultivated area of Molalla, Oreg. The method of asexual propagation used was side veneer grafting in which the scion is inserted into a slit on the side of the rootstock. Since that time the characteristics of the new cultivar have been determined stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual propagation.